Butterfly Kisses
by autumnsbeginning
Summary: Sequel to Butterfly Wings. Allie is back from college and things aren't as she expected them to be. Complete!
1. Because of the Pretty Brunette

**Note**: This, like I said in the summary, is the third book in the Allie series. The sequel to Butterfly Wings, which is the sequel to Butterfly Underwear. I just fell in love withAllie and her "leading man" Justin and couldn't stick to just one story! The chapters are short, I know, but I've found that I appreciate shorter chapters myself when I read stories.

Also, this one is romantic. It was hard to avoid...I needed an awesome ending! And with Justin adn Allie avoiding each other yet again, well, you know that wouldn't be a 'happy ending'. Allie deserves a _happily ever after_ after all she's been through. Justin too.

If you reviewed for any of the Allie stories, you'll find my response to you in either The Dare chapters or in one of my latest poems' author's notes. Sorry if that's a problem, I was trying to write two stories at once, and uploadign them and separating the reviews for teh two were getting too complicated! Thanks for bearing with me.

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

Allie walked into church, took a bulletin and gave the greeter a hug. This was the first week back from college, and she was finally done. But as she came through the big double doors, the music coming from the stage up front didn't soothe her like it used to. Her hands were shaking, and she couldn't get her last conversation with Justin out of her mind. The words that had been spoken had been for the best, and her resolve had not been punctured the entire two years she'd had remaining of college.

But she hadn't forgotten him.

Justin wasn't forgettable.

She was nervous and excited to see him at the same time. Would she be able to return his comments with an equal comeback? Would she be able to be friendly like she once was with him?

A few steps into the wide room gave her the answer she needed. No.

No, she would not because of the pretty brunette he had his arm around in the third to last row ahead of her. Because of her perfectly curled hair that scrunched underneath his arm as he held her tight and whispered and laughed about some private thing. Because the one person she'd thought she could come to love and share her life with didn't even notice as she sat down on the pew in the last row, didn't even greet her like he usually did. Because he walked out with his new girlfriend right after the sermon ended, chatting closely and putting his arm around her waist and opening her car door for her.

Allie did the one thing that she always did when she was distressed. Well, first she cried and then she did the one thing that she always did when she was distressed. She called Tia Christie.

"Oh, Tia, he has a new _girlfriend_," Allie whimpered into the phone. "And I sound like a jealous, lovesick teenager!"

"Ah,that you do, _Bella_," Christie said sadly. "But you have a reason! I would eat Oreo's and milk with you, but I am many miles away."

"Too late, Christie, I'm already eating them," sighed Allie, dunking the black and white cookie into her tall glass of milk and letting it disintegrate in her mouth.

Tia Christie laughed softly on the other end of the line. "So he has a girlfriend now."

Allie was about to nod but realized that the conversation was over the phone, so she said, "Yeah."

"Well, did it ever occur to you that maybe God doesn't _want_ you to be with Justin?" the words weren't angry or impatient; Christie had a way of making her point gently even though her words could be described as frank or harsh.

Allie grimaced and shut her eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed. "But what if I really _am _meant to be with him?"

Again Tia Christie chuckled. "Well, then, it's obviously supposed to happen some time in the future. Be patient, my niece. I think you came home from college thinking that Justin would welcome you back with open arms and a kiss. Did you expect him to wait for you, to stall his life just because you went away to college?" She softened her voice. "Don't you think that's kid of selfish on your part?"

She sighed at her aunt dramatically. "Again, you're right, as always. I was expecting a little too much of him. But it was kind of a blow to walk in and see his arm around that girl. And I thought he liked me."

"I think it's okay if his feelings for you change over the course of two years."

This caused Allie to laugh. "Yeah, I think so too. Now, at least… Christie, you realize that every time I see Justin I'm going to be overwhelmed with jealousy all over again. I want to let go of my 'crush' on him, but I don't know if I can."

"Did you ever consider talking to God about this? About your feelings for Justin?"

"I sort of did talk to Him…" Allie sighed. "But nothing's come to me. Nothing like the last time my feelings suddenly disappeared."

A few hours later Allie sat down on her bed and let herself fall back with her eyes closed, trying to concentrate on one thing: her conversation with God. She always felt as if it was a one-sided conversation, but she could feel His presence. She knew she wasn't talking to somebody who didn't exist; it was just that sometimes she didn't get an answer she could understand… or an answer at all.

_Lord, I don't understand why I come home and find that this thing I was sure of is gone. I was positive that You wanted me to wait until I was out of college to get serious with anybody. And the only someone I could ever start a relationship with is Justin._ Allie opened her eyes and studied the pattern on her ceiling as she thought. _I know Your reasons for making that change in me when I was in high school… but now I don't get any of it. I have waited this long time, and now there are no barriers in my path that would affect any emotional ties I've made. But I do, however, understand if You don't want me to be with Justin._

She thought she was being a bit too dramatic about the situation, but she felt like being theatrical. To her, this love story was the only one she'd experienced, and if it did turn out to be a love story, it would be the most important one in her life. Dramatics would do it justice.

Allie took a deep breath and continued her prayer. _I am willing to give my feelings for Justin to You, Lord. But if you could please help me with that part, I have a feeling it's going to be harder than I realize…_


	2. The Return of Allie

_**Chapter Two**_

The minute Justin found out that Allie was back in town, his emotions fell into turmoil. The words and actions of their last meeting two years ago danced in front of his eyes, and he couldn't stop thinking about her. About the kiss that had almost happened. About her reasoning and about how they'd never spoken to each other directly since then.

Allie had gone to Europe to stay with a friend she'd met on her previous mission's trip the summer after her resolve, and Justin had only seen her in church a few times after she'd come home.

And then there was Laurie, the new girl who moved into town a few weeks into September the year before. When she'd come to visit the church she'd been welcomed vigorously by the congregation's single men, probably due to her rather tight skirt the first Sunday in the church. After receiving the attentions of all of the men, she hadn't missed a week.

Justin knew for a fact that Allie would probably meet some cool Christian guy at college who was perfect for her and forget all about him. He'd forced himself to put his feelings for her in the closet, willing them to go away permanently. To prove to himself that they were gone he'd asked out the pretty and popular Laurie, tight skirts and all. And Justin had enjoyed every single night with her, constantly having to push thoughts of Allie to the back of his head just to carry on a conversation with her. As long as his brain stayed clear and focused on his date, he'd always made a good impression. She said yes to every date he invited her on, all the more encouraging to him.

And before Justin knew it, they were considered an item, especially at church.

Laurie was a nice girl, a Christian but without a strong relationship with God. He knew that she'd only come to their church to meet guys in the first place, but whatever it took to get his mind off of Allie…

But now she was back.

* * *

"Hello?" Allie answered the phone on the first ring. She'd been sitting home all day since church eating Oreos and milk and watching TV, completely bored.

"Hey, is this Allie?" asked the voice on the other end of the line, one she immediately recognized as Kristen, the high school youth group leader.

"Hey, Kristen!" Allie nearly shouted into the phone. "I haven't talked to you in… forever. How are you?"

"Awesome and still doing youth group. How about you? Got a date tonight?"

"Other than the one I've got with the TV? No. Why do you ask?" Allie wanted to know.

"Well, I wanted to let you know that you're invited to come with the youth group to go bowling. You're still considered one of them, you know," Kristen told her.

"Of course. In my heart I'll always be in high school," sighed Allie dramatically. "So we're going bowling tonight? Oh man, I haven't done that in years… I'll lose. But I'll go with you and eat nachos and watch everybody else kick my butt. It will be fun."

"Church building tonight at eight. Cosmic bowling starts at eight-thirty, and we get unlimited for ten bucks a person for the rest of the night until they close, which I believe is at eleven. Is it a go?"

"Of course. See you then!"


	3. Allie's Boyfriend

_**Chapter Three**_

Allie showed up at the church parking lot in her car at eight on the dot. Kristen was already there, chatting with some guy against her own car in front of the church building. Allie almost smiled, thinking it was somebody her single youth leader had found interest in and praising God that she'd finally found someone, but her smile crashed into a frown when she parked and came around to see who it was.

Justin wasn't smiling either. Instead he nodded to her in a stiff way, saying, "Hey, Allie. Heard you were back in town." All hopes of having a fun and relaxing night disappeared when he didn't use any of her nicknames like he always did when greeting her.

* * *

Justin couldn't keep his eyes off her. He realized he was probably going to scare her off again if he kept staring at her, but she was everything and more he'd remembered her to be. Her blond hair was straight and tapering around her face, and as always she knew how to look great in a pair of jeans and loose-fitting shirt. Her innocence was like a breath of fresh air compared to Laurie's seductive clothing, and he welcomed it into his lungs.

"Hi, Justin," Allie smiled shyly, and it was obvious she didn't know where to put herself. Leaning against the car with him and Kristen? Of course not. She looked too afraid and bashful to even get near him. She stayed at least five feet in front of him, looking down at her toes. Once she looked up at him to find him looking at her, only to return her gaze to the ground. Her hair didn't even begin to hide her blush.

The red creeping up into her cheeks made him wonder whether his thoughts were wrong. He'd thought she would come home with some verdict never to marry, or to devote her life to her job or God, or even return with a boyfriend… or worse. Engaged. But there was no ring on her finger, and she seemed nervous around him. That was a good sign. According to Jeff, with girls like Allie you know when they 'like' you because they're too afraid to get near you.

Allie seemed to gather her courage, for she looked up. But it was not at him.

She turned to Kristen. "I thought for sure you'd taken a love interest when I drove up. You know, it's time for you to find Mr. Right, my friend. You've been without a date for so long…"

Kristen laughed. "And Justin is definitely not my date."

Justin laughed, still unable to keep his eyes from Allie. Her grin stayed in place until her eyes turned to his, then it started fading ever so slowly. First her mouth turned serious, and then the twinkle disappeared from her eyes. She blinked but kept returning his stare, as if testing him to see how long he could lock gazes with her. He only blinked once before another car drove up and Allie turned to hug a senior that had just been a freshman when she'd left for college. Her words seemed far away, but her person was the center of his attention.

* * *

Justin plopped into the chair next to Allie, and she kept her gaze in front of her. If she was going to get rid of her crush, she couldn't keep concentrating on his elbow touching hers, his hips not far from her own, his arm just a centimeter from her unmoving own, the goose bumps raising on her skin. But she couldn't help herself.

"You gonna drink that?" asked Justin, gesturing with his head toward her Coke sitting on the table before her. She hadn't been able to get nachos and hadn't been in the mood for them either. Something with a ton of caffeine seemed suiting to her situation.

Allie blinked and looked at the melting ice in her cup.

"Do you prefer watery cola?" Justin teased.

For a few seconds she grinned, thinking that the real Justin was back. But she didn't want the real him, not when that was the one she really did have feelings for. She wanted to bite back the retort, but it squeezed through her lips anyway, "Do you normally start conversations this way? Asking somebody if they like watery cola?"

Justin laughed. "Ah, so there's the old Allie. You've sort of been… spaced out tonight. Daydreaming about something?"

Allie decided she liked where this conversation was going. Oh, yes, she could get him good, "Yeah. Jay."

She watched him stiffen. "Jay?"

"A guy I met at college," she sighed for effect. "I guess you'd call him my boyfriend."

"You have a boyfriend?" Justin asked. She couldn't tell whether his voice was more surprised or hurt.

"Yeah, he's really cool. He's a Christian, too. He graduated with me. I only met him at the beginning of this last year, though he claims he was in my math class the first semester, back when I was a freshman," Allie smiled, as if recalling a memory.


	4. Cat Got Your Heart

_**Chapter Four**_

Justin blinked, his thoughts rushing too fast for him to comprehend. Allie had a boyfriend? So his previous predictions had been right.

And just as he realized she was completely serious, his heard plummeted, not stopping at his feet. For a few minutes he thought it was gone. Then he realized it was…

Allie Cat had stolen it.

It reminded him of the phrase his grandmother used to say to him when he got tongue-tied. "Cat got your tongue?" But this time, it would be, "Cat got your heart."

"You've got a boyfriend," Justin stated again. It was now the only thought in his mind, unable to escape, swimming around and around within his brain like a goldfish in a bowl. He couldn't get it out of his head.

Allie smiled and nodded, looking over at him. Now he wished he'd taken the seat across from her. She was taken, and he had no right to sit by her, to even think that he could ever get her back.

"If you don't remember, you have a girlfriend, too, Justin," Allie teased, a glint in her eye. He didn't know whether to take it completely seriously or not.

Justin shrugged. "How did you know I've been dating?"

"Well, for one you're probably the church's 'most eligible bachelor'," laughed Allie. "Two, I saw you guys sitting together at church."

He'd given her a bad impression. He scrambled to fix it with the right words, recalling how he'd put his arm around her for the first time that Sunday. He'd never done anything with her, hardly touched her, and had actually been _afraid _to, until then. "Laurie… she came to church a while after you left again last year. I don't know, I decided to give her a shot. I'm still waiting to see if there's anything. I'm starting to think not."

* * *

Allie felt her grin fall. She tried to keep her eyes from growing wide. "You mean you dated her without even liking her?" Swishing the ice and cola around in her cup and sipping on the straw, she looked up at him to see his reaction to her question.

Justin simply shrugged. "There aren't many single women in the church, and you know I'm twenty-three. I decided, like I said, to give her a chance. Maybe be her friend, you know? Besides, she'd already turned down every other guy in the church, and the only one left was me. Steve insisted that there had to be _some_ reason she was staying, and that it was probably me."

"You strung her along, let her think that you liked her," Allie said dryly, not believing what he said. She didn't know whether to be happy that he didn't have feelings for Laurie or to have pity for the poor girl.

He shook his head. "No, I didn't. I made it clear to her that I didn't have great feelings for her but just wanted to have a good time, maybe even grow to like her as time went on. But the only thing I was looking for in dating her was having her as a friend."

"And what about putting your arm around her during church this morning?" Allie asked with a frown. She felt as if she was interrogating him, but with Justin you had to ask him direct questions or he wasn't going to give you direct answers.

"I don't know, really," Justin said. "I guess I just decided to do it. I don't really feel anything for her." It was as if he was trying to tell her he was available.

And during that moment, after he'd said what he did, Allie realized she was going to have to tell him that she really didn't even _have _a boyfriend to have feelings for.


	5. Cherry Everything

_**Chapter Five**_

Allie looked over at Justin with a serious face. It almost looked sad, and he suddenly felt the urge to put his arm around her, to tell her everything, how Laurie was simply a distraction from thinking about her. But no, it would be just his luck to have her boyfriend show up and sock him in the face for touching his girlfriend.

Her next words were unexpected.

"Justin, my boyfriend has never put his arm around me. He's never touched me," she looked up at him, and he could have sworn he saw tears building in her eyes. "He doesn't even exist."

Justin wondered if his eyes had gone wide, and he was about to smile and let out a happy shout when she blinked and two small droplets of water leaked from the corners of her eyes.

He frowned and wiped them away with his thumb. "What are you crying about?"

* * *

Allie was amazed at how sarcastic Justin was being… tender? Compassionate? He'd even asked her why he was crying, had smudged her tears with his thumbs.

"I lied to you," she sniffed. "I'm so sorry."

His eyes turned teasing; the old Justin was back. "Yeah, why _did _you lie to me like that?"

And that was when she told him everything. "Because I was angry with you for having a girlfriend, for not even seeing me when I came into church. I was looking forward to seeing you again that I wanted you to go through the pain I did when I walked in and saw you sitting so close to Laurie with your arm around her."

Justin turned serious and looked her in the eye. "You mean you wanted to see me again? I had thought so many times you would go off and find a nice Christian guy and get engaged while you were at college. It happens so much I thought it would surely happen to someone so smart and pretty and cool…"

* * *

Justin hadn't planned on being so honest and open that night, hadn't even planned on Allie being there. But as he saw her eyes widen and fill with water again, he knew he couldn't take anymore. "I'll be right back."

He jumped up and went over to the snack bar. As he came back, he watched Kristen and the high school students bowl. One of the seniors was winning and had gotten three strikes in a row. Allie had ducked out of the last game and come to sit down, and he'd seen it as an opportunity to talk to her, to hang out and catch up with her.

"What was that for?" asked a confused-looking Allie as he slid into the booth with her.

"I needed something to drink," Justin replied. That was not the reason at all. He just needed a few minutes to get his thoughts and feelings together. Things had changed drastically in the last few minutes of talking to her.

Allie grinned. "An Icee?" She looked over at him slyly. "You know, I'm done with my pop."

Justin sighed as if it were some huge favor. He scooted the un-sipped blue Icee toward her, and she took the first suck out of the straw.

* * *

Allie was sure her lips had turned blue, and her teeth were destined to match them. She leaned back against the booth; glad everything was over and cleared up between them. She could finally enjoy his company again.

She was surprised when Justin scooted his drink back over in front of him and took a sip out of the straw she'd just put her lips on. Something was strangely intimate about that… she didn't know what. An odd shiver passed through her and she watched him as he downed at least a quarter of the drink.

His lips came back blue, too.

"Of all the colors, you chose blue," Allie said dryly. It was somewhat of a question and a statement in one.

Justin nodded. "Blue is the best. One gets sick of cherry. They have cherry _everything_. Cherry starburst, cherry suckers, probably cherry anything you can think of."

Allie smiled in agreement. "You're right. But we're both going to have dark blue lips by the time we're done with it. People are going to think we're either deathly ill or long past dead."

"We froze to death."

She laughed.

"And who said you were going to have any more of my Icee, anyway?"

Shrugging, she took the drink away from him and raised it to her lips once more. And the second she did she didn't know whether she regretted it or not, for his gaze automatically went to them.

When Allie set down the drink, her eyes still glued to his, she knew there was no avoiding it. His hand was cold from holding the Icee as it came to the side of her face, eventually burying in her hair. She leaned against it, her heart beating rapidly as his face neared hers.


	6. Butterfly Kisses

_**Chapter Six**_

This time there was no car to honk as it drove by with its bright lights forcing them to jump apart. She did not pull away from him and there was no big decision to make. And there was no still, small voice in the back of her head telling her to wait, that it was wrong.

No, it was just right this time.

But Allie wasn't going to let him have complete control. She leaned forward unexpectedly, pecking him on his blue-tinted lips, a butterfly kiss. She smiled, not at just his surprised face but as she remembered her butterfly underwear she had been sure would make Justin fall in love with her.

She'd escaped his hand and had been able to pull away, but when the other came to rest on her waist and draw her close, she felt as if she were frozen. His face neared hers yet again, and this time her eyes slid shut when she felt his breath on her face.

The good feeling that she felt in her stomach when his lips touched hers made her want to do something, though she didn't know what she could do. At first it was another butterfly kiss, soft and barely touching, but soon it deepened into more.

_Thank you, Lord. I don't know why I ever doubted you. You had a plan for me all along, didn't you? You were in control the entire time, even when I felt as if my whole entire world was spinning out of my hands. Why can't I ever remember that the whole _world_ is in Your hands_?

When Justin pulled back he said, "You know, Allie, you have been quite difficult."

"Huh!" Allie replied in indignation. "As if _I've_ been the difficult one!"

She was about to argue even more when his lips came to hers again in one quick kiss before Kristen and the rest of the youth group realized that anything had happened.

Allie promised herself she would throw away the Oreos and call Tia Christie with the good news the minute she got home. And as Justin gave her a gentle hug before she got in her car at the church parking lot that night, one thought dominated her mind:

_I've traded in my butterfly underwear for infinite butterfly kisses._


End file.
